Possessed by more than Demons
by josiefan17
Summary: Set in season 8 when Kevin was abducted by Crowley. Just my version of what could've happened. Sam is weakened by the trials but that doesn't stop him from being possessed. Protective brothers, just how we like them - Sam and Dean Winchester.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note: please don't judge too harshly, I'm new to writing and this is my very first piece, plus it hasn't been checked thoroughly because I didn't have time, I hope you enjoy!_

CHAPTER 1

_*Disclaimer; I do not own Supernatural or any of the material created from it*_

Cackles of laughter filled the room where the shell of Sam's body was strapped to a wooden chair, locked inside himself with a demon stuck in a devil's trap. Dean stared at his younger brother who was being possessed. He smoothed his hand along his faint stubble waiting for the demon to give answers, instead it was just laughing at him.

"You're pathetic Dean Winchester. You and your stupid little brother. You know I can read his thoughts and memories right? I find it hilarious how he saw you more of a father figure than his own biological Dad. Stacks upon stacks of precious memories where you would also sacrifice yourself to protect him. My personal favourite was when you sold your soul to get his life back, now that is martyr material right there", the demon grinned while snarling to the elder brother. Dean hated the fact this dirty, filthy, unholy creature was inside of his brother but he needed to find answers from the underworld. "Tell me you son of a bitch, now, or I swear-" Dean started but was again interrupted by the demon's outbursts, "you'll what you pathetic sap of shit? You won't kill me because you'll kill your brother and you won't exorcise me yet because you don't have what you need so you're stuck big boy". This smile made Dean's skin crawl but it was right despite Sam giving permission to use any means necessary including torture, although Dean couldn't bring himself to inflict pain on his little brother.

- EARLIER IN THE DAY -

The hunt for the demon tablet and the accompanying prophet was still going strong but the Winchester brothers had no leads whatsoever. Without that tablet Sam couldn't continue with the trials and finally shut the gates of hell, banishing all the black-eyed son of bitches back to where they belong.

Dean walked into the bunker, arms full of carrier bags containing groceries. Sam was sat at the mahogany table adjacent from the descending stairs where Dean was walking. "Did you walk in and buy the whole store Dean? I thought you said you were only getting a few supplies? Not a few supplies for the next millennium" Sam's eyes never left the book he was reading but could tell his older brother was rolling his eyes. "Now that we have a kitchen, I figure we need proper food and not something you have to heat up in a supermarket microwave. Sammy like I said, I'm nesting so learn to enjoy our time here okay?" Dean headed in the direction of the kitchen not before hearing the faint laughter of his brother. After all the issues with the trials had taken its toll on Sam and it was beginning to show, he looked severely ill and sounded worse so hearing laughter instead of coughing up blood was like heaven.

Dean later re-joined his brother with two bottles of beer, one for himself and one for Sam. "Found anything yet?" Dean took a sip from his bottle and sat opposite his sibling. "Nada so far. It sucks that we're completely alone in this. However, if we're right that Crowley took Kevin and has the other half of the demon tablet, maybe we could seek out one of his bitches, torture them for information?" Sam raised an interesting question that struck a chord with Dean. "That's not a bad idea actually, good thing you got the brains in our family – I obviously got the looks. It's worth a try but I doubt many of those dicks know about Crowley's activities, the ones that do are probably tight-lipped." Sam sighed at Dean's remark. "We could go to a crossroads and collect one of the red-eyed ones, they're always great fun to torture" Dean had a cunning smirk on his face, happy that they were back to good old-fashioned demon hunting, "alright, let's go Scoob" Dean winked at his brother who showed no sign of amusement, instead he looked like he's just gone eight rounds with a tonne of bricks. Concern washed over Dean at that moment, he'd just hoped Sam would get through this in one piece.

Sam began swaying slightly as he and his brother was standing dead centre of a crossroads which was covered in a devil's trap, streaming across all four points. "Well, well, well. Winchesters" a middle aged man appeared behind Sam and Dean. When they met his eye line, the demon's eyes flashed red. "Both of you at the same time, this must be good. What can I do for you?" it stepped closer towards the pair until it noticed the red spray paint underneath its leather loafers. "What is this?" "We're here to collect you for a little Q and A" Dean grinned from ear to ear.

The brothers drove Dean's sweet impala to an abandoned warehouse not too far from the crossroads with the Faust legend riding in its trunk. The painted devils trap and chair with some tough-ass shackles were already waiting for them when they got there.

Once the demon was prepped for torture surgery, Sam and Dean began asking questions about Crowley just to see if it knew anything or perhaps knew anyone associated with him. Instead it just spat and laughed at the duo. About an hour went by without any real progress until a metal sign outside began slamming against a pole creating a horrific, ear-pitching noise. "What the hell is that?" Sam moved towards a smashed window to get a better look. The demon let out a stream of air, "you two are dumbasses you know that? You honestly think I'd let you kidnap me without warning a few buddies of mine?" it teased. The brothers shared the same look that basically said 'shit'. "Go check it out, I'll stay here and guard Miss Congeniality over here" Sam ordered, Dean returned the favour with a worried look, "I'm not leaving you alone Sam" the youngest brother leant against the wooden walls to stop his legs giving out from being so weak, standing up for an hour was playing havoc, "Dean, I can stay here and watch a simple crossroads demon who is trapped, just check it out to see if we've got company" Sam gave his signature 'puppy eyes' look to which Dean sighed and left the warehouse.

The wind began howling against the windows. At the same time the doors to the warehouse began slamming open and shut. Sam looked around frantically, wondering what was taking his brother so long. The sound of wood snapping filled the room. Sam stared at the flooring thinking that an earthquake was about to happen. Panels from the doors cracked until it reached the devil's trap, snapping the whole floor in half, breaking the demon's containment. The next few seconds were too quick for a weak Sam to respond to; the crossroads demon slammed him against the wall while he stormed towards him. Sam fought the restrains with all the strength he had left but he couldn't fight the demonic power. "Sam, Sam, Sam. Don't fight me, conserve your energy, you're gonna need it" the eyes once again flashed red of the demon which was too powerful to be a standard crossroads one, he pulled back the top of Sam's shirt revealing the anti-possession tattoo. At that point Dean came storming in after hearing the commotion. "SAM!" The elder brother screamed before being thrown out of the warehouse and the doors slamming shut behind him. Sam again started fighting after seeing his brother get hurt. "Now, where were we?" the demon placed his hand over the tattoo, burning it off. Steam and the smell of smoke filled the room along with the sound of Sam's cries. From outside Sam could hear his brother calling his name, desperately trying to get in somehow. As soon as the tattoo was clearly burnt off, the demon stepped back and opened his mouth, revealing an endless amount of black smoke which went straight into Sam.

Dean continued slamming the doors with his fists until suddenly they were not longer being bolted. He quickly ran in to find the empty shell of a middle-aged man lying coldly on the floor and Sam standing above him. "Sam?" Dean's eyes continued to flick between the two men, wondering where the demon went. "Sam's no longer with us, I'm borrowing his body for a while to get information about the trials" Sam's mouth was moving but a corrupted, demonic sound came out instead of his brother's soft voice. "Get the hell out of my brother you bastard. How did you even get into him with the anti-demon tattoo?" "It was simple really, the burns may have hurt for a few seconds but the pain I will bring upon your brother will make burning off his tattoo seem like child's play" the demon, using Sam's body, slammed his hands together and cracked his neck in anticipation.

_To be continued…_


	2. Chapter 2

_Authors note: I realise the first chapter was pretty long so this is hopefully better. Again just briefly looked over and I'm new so give me some credit. Thank you!_

CHAPTER 2

Dean took one step towards his younger brother who was probably locked away somewhere in his mind, watching this unfold. "Dean, don't be stupid. I'm not your average Joe demon" it began speaking with its voice bouncing off of the walls before flicking its hand to throw Dean across the other end of the warehouse, pinning him down against a wall. "SAM! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, FIGHT IT!" Dean screamed while it felt like there were a million invisible pins holding him. Hope fluttered when Dean remembered how his brother fought Lucifer's possession but the sound of distant snorts defeated the optimism. "Your brother is weak Dean, these trials have really knocked him down a peg or two. I can hear him. Inside, he's screaming your name, begging me to release you. You see, he can read my thoughts as well, and little Sammy knows I'll skin you alive, it's just a matter of time" a smile etched across Sam's face but it wasn't the smile Dean recognised.

The demon pressed Sam's extended fingers towards his head and shut his eyes. "Are you doing some sort of psycho-demon-yoga crap or do you have a headache?" Dean spat out sarcastically while trying to fight the restraint. The large room once again was filled with silence as the demon remained in the same position.

Minutes passed slowly until the demon relaxed Sam's hands to his side and opened his eyes, revealing the dark, black smoke behind them. "Quit the witty humour Dean, I just had to surf through Sammy's mind. Turns out he doesn't much about the trials so he's pretty useless. Nevertheless, little Sam's shell may come in handy at some point so he'll be on loan to Hell for now" the demon rubbed its hands together and stepped in the direction of the doorway. "NO!" Dean screamed from the other end of the room but the demon didn't even flinch.

The demon used Sam's hand to flick the doors back open as he stepped into the late afternoon. Before he could reach any further than the warehouse foyer he became stuck. At that moment the demon heard faint chuckling coming within the abandoned storage unit. It turned around to see a still-pinned-up Dean with a smile the size of the Cheshire cats'. The demon lifted its head and realised a painted devil's trap was keeping him in place. "WHAT IS THIS!?" The demon bellowed. "Yeah, when Sammy told me to check outside I had a distinct feeling you might've called a favour down under to cause a little earthquake and get your trap broken so while you were possessing my poor brother, I was spraying the ceiling in a nice ruby red. And since Sam didn't know anything about it, you couldn't have read his mind to realise what I did" the smile never leaving Dean's face. As the demon's powers became useless in its trap, Dean was suddenly let free of his restraint and dropped onto the ground.

Time to send you back to where you came from you black-eyed dick" Dean stormed across the empty plot, grabbing the demon knife out of his duffle on the way. "You can't kill me dumbass or you'll hurt your brother" it said with the slight sound of worry in its voice. "I'm not stabbing you, it's for insurance, I'm gonna sing you a little lullaby to help with the journey down south" Dean stopped at the entrance to the trap. "Wait, wait, I can help you. I don't want to go back there, I like it up here" the demon pleaded. Dean ignored the begs and began the exorcism, "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus-" "STOP!" the demon yelled as it began to breathe heavily, "fine, you don't believe me, ask him" the demon shut Sam's eyes as Dean watched him carefully. Sam's eye re-opened and a gasping sound erupted from his mouth. He slumped down onto the floor trying to find breath. "Sammy?" Dean ran into the circle, clutching his brother by the shoulders, "hey, hey!" "Dean!" Sam looked up at his brother with pain in his vision. He had been severely weakened by the possession. "Dean I don't have long, I can hear it counting down in my head. He's telling the truth, he can be of some help. Make sure you get everything you can from him then send him to hell. If he's being difficult, use any means necessary, okay?" Sam choked out, clawing at his brothers jacket, feeling the demon inside him. "Sam, I'm not going to hurt you!" Dean stared down at Sam with concern. "Dean. Do whatever needs to be done, I don't care. We need to finish these trials so he might be able to help. I don't care!" Sam's expression showed focus but it also showed defeat which was worrying to Dean. Before he could say anything else the eyes on his baby brother flashed black and Dean was back out of the trap. "So you see, I can help" it sneered.

_To be continued… _


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying this, I don't have much time to thoroughly check through but hopefully from now on I will be able to. Thanks!_

CHAPTER 3

An injection of holy water and a re-application of the devil's trap later, the demon stuck in Sam's body was tied to the same wooden chair as earlier but this time Dean had handcuffed its hands and feet together which also had small engraved devil's traps on them to keep the demon at bay. Something he had learned from Henry Winchester.

Dean began contemplating how to extract any information from the demon without causing too much pain to Sam. It had just finished ranting about how pathetic it saw Sam and Dean and the rehashing of memories made Dean's soul ache when he remembered how his younger brother died in his arms way back when.

"Look you said you would be useful but all you've told is that Crowley has our prophet locked up somewhere. I'm gonna give you ten seconds to prove yourself or it's a one-way ticket down" Dean looked down at his nails seemingly not bothered. Instead of giving information, the demon continued to stroll down the brother's memory lane. "Did it hurt you Dean when little Sammy didn't look for you when you were in purgatory? That had to sting, am I right? Or perhaps when he stabbed you in the back, teaming up with Ruby to release Lucifer? Or how about when he ditched you, going off to Stanford, leaving you all alone" the demon mocked, feeling the scratching of Sam against the walls. Dean turned away, disguising the anger boiling at the surface.

"Listen you good-for-nothing son of a bitch! You are doing nothing but piss me off so say hello to your buddies down under" Dean began to chant an exorcism but was interrupted by the demon's echoing voice again. "I'm surprised at you Dean, no matter how many times he's let you down, you never give up on little Sammy. I mean, that year you were running away from the shadows with your buddy Benny, Sam was leading a perfect life with a girl he loved. You know he didn't even give you a second thought. The same goes for Jessica. He blames you for her death. If you hadn't have gotten Sam in the first place, she would still be alive. You drag him down under the surface when all he's trying to do is stay afloat but you continue being that anchor until you reach the bottom then Sam will be all alone, clawing his way up but he can never quite get there – all because of you. You-" it was silence when Dean suddenly plunged the demon knife deep into Sam's leg, "shut up" he whispered.

Sam screeched inside himself but the demon let out a sickening cackle. "Finally, I never thought you'd react. I've been going through the motions in Sammy's mind to find out what buttons to press, guess I found them" it sniggered. Dean walked off leaving the knife sticking in his brother's leg. Anger and guilt collided within as he knew pain had struck his brother on the inside.

"Aw, what's that now? Cat got your tongue? C'mon Dean, I know you can do better than that. I can read Sam's mind and I know you two packed some fun torture toys just for me so whip 'em out!" Dean didn't want to hurt his brother but he was furious with that demon for conjuring up his past wounds. "What about when Sammy had no soul. That year when you lived through hell while you thought he was there himself. Nope, he sailed through one whole year enjoying the good stuff without a care in the world. How many nights did you go unslept? Hmm? How often did you walk down the street and see Sam but at a second glance it was something else? While you were living your own worst nightmare, he was living a dream" the demon continued to taunt. Memories of two years ago flashed behind Dean's eyes.

_Sleepless nights. The sleep Dean finally got lasted only an hour or two. Waking up in cold sweats. Burning headaches. Screaming Sam's name in the middle of the night. Picturing fiery flames pouring all over Sam's face. _

The demon knew right where to hit Dean at his weak points. The right leavers to pull. He reached into his duffle bag, lifting out a large bottle and a series of injections, each filled with Holy water. Dean stabbed Sam in the arm, pushing the water in, releasing screams from the demon.

The Holy water continued being injected into the demon, despite this, the demon only released small bouts of information. "Dean, Dean, Dean. Surely you can do better than this?" it teased. So far the demon explained briefly Crowley was trying to find out what they were doing by getting the tablet translated. "Just tell me dammit!" Dean yelled. "How about you and Sammy have another talk? See you in a few" it winked before slamming its eyes shut.

Sam re-woke by gasping for air. "Dean?" Sam's voice was hoarse. "Sammy?! Sammy!" Dean kneeled to his level. "Hey, how're you doin' in there?" Dean's voice was barely a whisper. "I'm so sorry it's doing this to you. He's trying to get a rise out of you, trying to make you hurt me. You gotta do what you have to okay? Promise me Dean" Sam's head sunk, tired from the ordeal. "Sam-" "No, I don't want to let you down again. Do this for me, I'll heal but if we don't find out where Kevin is then we won't be able to shut hell up" Sam begged. "Fine, only to a certain point" Dean replied grudgingly. Sam shut his heavy eyes, opening them once again to reveal darkness, "you ready?" the demon cockily said. Dean nodded disapprovingly.

The elder brother took out various instruments from his duffle bag, preparing for his torture.

Blood slowly dripped from Sam's face, hands, neck and chest. Dean's self-loathing increased dramatically at his brother's horrid request but the demon finally revealed where Crowley was holding Kevin along with the other half of the demon tablet which had been missing for months.

There were various scratch marks of different lengths and depths covering Sam's empty face. Bruises began to reveal themselves around his eyes. Sam's hair was drenched with sweat and Holy water. The corner of his mouth had the remains of salt where it was forced down his mouth. The chair handles had scratch marks where Sam's nails had clawed and fought against the pain.

Occasionally the demon spat out large quantities of blood which severely worried Dean though he carried on, following Sam's wishes.

Once the demon had given the information to Dean, the older brother wrapped Sam's stabbed knee with a cloth to stop the bleeding which had now turned a disgusting crimson colour.

"The things you can do with torture tools Dean" the demon clicked its tongue approvingly, "I'm proud of you" it clicked Sam's jaw back into place after Dean sucker punched him. "Screw you" Dean threw everything back into his bag and stood at the tip of the devil's trap, eyeing his bloody brother with such hatred for himself. "After three long hours of being stuck in a room with you, I can finally send you to Hell, bitch" Dean began reciting the exorcism again, for the last time.

"No Dean, we had a deal. You said once I gave up my Intel, you'd let me go" worry filled Sam's voice although it was the demon speaking. "You honestly think I'm gonna let you walk free? You could go running to Crowley like an obedient bitch and tell him everything about this afternoon. No way in hell, but since you're going there-" Dean smiled though his thoughts felt dead.

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica...  
>Ergo, draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica, adjuramus te ... cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque æternæ perditionìs venenum propinare...<br>Vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciæ, hostis humanæ salutis...  
>Humiliare sub potenti manu Dei; contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomine... quem inferi tremunt...<br>Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine.  
>Ut Ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos."<p>

After some severe head spinning and sputters, the demon released a vile of thick, black smoke, leaving Sam's weak and damaged body.

Dean ran towards his brother, unlocking the demonic handcuffs and lifting his brother to lie on the floor with a jacket propped under his head. "Sam?" Dean tapped his brother's cheeks slightly, hoping to get a response. His little brother was a pale white colour. His eye sockets a dark blue from bruises. The blood ran cold in Dean as he didn't get a response. "SAM?" Dean yelled, clutching his baby brother's head to his shoulders. Agony and tiredness mixed within Dean at the deafening silence surrounding him. "SAM!"

_To be continued…_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: thank you so much for viewing these chapters. it means a lot when I see the amount of people taking a look so thanks again :)_

_"__You chose a demon over your own brother… I can't trust you anymore…"_

_"__You lied to me, over and over… Hopped up on demon blood…"_

_"__..Probably to do with the apocalypse…well we know who to thank for that…"_

_"__You've been back practically this whole time and you didn't tell me?... You don't have a soul Sam…"_

_"__You've been seeing Lucifer?...Why didn't you tell me?..."_

_"__I was in purgatory…After you looked for me? You did look for me?..."_

_"__You should've looked for me…"_

_Sam was drifting down an endless corridor of darkness, filled with past memories, past betrayals, a lift filled with constant regret. He felt like he was floating. Conversations with his brother that pained his soul when he relived them. They were so clear like he was standing on the side lines of his past. With each door that was opened, Sam could see the hurtful look on Dean's face. Countless times Sam had let down his brother yet countless times Dean would continue to protect his younger brother until his last breath. _

_He didn't want to wake up from the endless pit of disappointment but he knew he couldn't leave now. Not when they were so close to the finish line. Not when slamming the gates of hell were within the brothers' grasp. _

"SAM?!" Dean's eyes began filling with tears at the lack of response from his little brother.

At that moment Sam inhaled deeply as he awoke. His eyes flicked open as the evening light began pouring into his vision. "Sammy!" Dean exclaimed as he dragged his brother up vertical via his shirt lapels. "Dean?" Sam was breathing heavily as his face filled with colour once again.

"Sam, thank God!" Dean hugged his brother while Sam searched the large room with his eyes rapidly, confused at first, then the events of earlier came flooding back. "I'm so sorry Sammy, I didn't mean to hurt you that bad" Sam could hear quiet sobs emanating from his older brother. He remembered the corridor he strolled through before waking up and guilt rushed through him. Sam unlocked from his brothers arms and pressed his feet to the floor to stand.

"Woah, woah. You okay Sammy? You were gone there for a while, take it easy" Dean protested, feeling the worry creep up on him. "Dean, I'm fine. How long was I out?" Sam reached to grab his jacket after feeling the decreasing temperature from the evening. "A few minutes. You had me scared, man. What's the last thing you remember?" Dean eyed his brother cautiously. Sam didn't want to lie but he didn't want to upset his brother again, "consciously, I remember you sending that thing back to hell" Sam grabbed the cuffs that were attached to him just moments ago and shoved them in the duffle. "Sam, hey! I can do that, just sit down and relax before we move" Dean gave Sam a reassuring smile although Dean felt an immense amount of guilt for nearly killing him. "I can pick up a few items from the floor, Dean. Let's just get out of here so we can get to Crowley before anything stops us. I'm sure he's already been notified that we took a crossroads demon" Sam grabbed the last of his stuff before heading in the direction of the door, leaving Dean stood by the torture chair astounded.

Sam was already seated in the Impala when Dean emerged from the warehouse. The sky was a rich red as the sun set. Dean sighed as he sat behind the wheel, closing the car door with its classic creaking. "Sam, we should talk about what happened. You were dead for about four minutes, you wake up then pretend nothing happened." Dean glanced at Sam who was staring out the passenger window. "Okay, I was out cold and now I'm back. It's not the first time we've died, Dean" Sam let out a small chuckled. Dean rolled his eyes, "I know but you took a helluva beating. I'm just saying, take a breather. Get some sleep on the ride back to the bunker" he inserted the ignition key and started the engine. "What?" Sam had a large question mark plastered on his face. "What?" Dean mimicked. "Shouldn't we just head straight to where Crowley is? The quicker we move, the-" Dean interrupted Sam, "you need rest Sammy. Hell, I need rest, that was a long day. I need my four hours then we'll go as soon as we've hit the hay". Sam wanted to argue but didn't have the energy so he just leant his head against the window and sealed his eyes shut.

"Sammy, we're home" Dean nudged his brother slightly to wake him up. Sam grumbled then registered Dean's words. 'Home', he disagreed with that statement but he didn't want to hurt Dean any more than he had already. "Alright" his voice was hoarse from sleep.

Dean dumped the duffle on the well-polished table that he had cleaned a day earlier, smiling to himself at the thought of his nest. "I'm gonna lay down for a bit, you should too. That car is a beauty but she can be uncomfortable to sleep in" Dean shouted to Sam as he headed to his room, leaving the younger brother alone with his thoughts.

Sam sat himself at the table and rested his head to the shiny surface. His thoughts swarmed in his mind. Sam had carried the guilt of letting his brother down for almost a decade which is why just this once, he has to succeed.

After Sam had an hour or so sleeping awkwardly at the table, he grumbled lifting his craned neck that was now throbbing. He pulled his eyes open when his vision was welcomed with black edges. He blinked a few times but darkness was seeping in. He stood up and walked slowly to the sink to splash some water on his face in hopes to fully wake up. The water was ice cold as it dripped down Sam's aching face. There were small cuts all over his face from the day earlier and as he traced his fingers along the scratches, memories came back from when the demon was wearing him. The pain was unspeakable but whenever he tried to scream, the demon would let out a deafening laugh.

Even with rest, the combination of the trials and torture made Sam extremely weak, so much so that even standing at the sink for a couple of minutes made his legs want to give out. He gripped the sides of the basin to steady himself. Sam had a sudden rush of sickness wave over him. He began to feel cold and as a result started shivering. His hands grew white, blending in with the porcelain. He stared into the mirror before him but he saw everything go black.

His shaking legs could no longer hold his weight and finally succumbed to the pressure as Sam fell to the floor, along with a china cup, he burst into an uncontrollable fit. Pieces of white, sharp china were scattered all over the small tiled area. Sam, in his unconscious state, convulsed onto the cup's pieces, some sliced Sam's pale palm, others surfacing just underneath his plaid shirt.

The shattering of china was a sharp enough sound to wake up Dean who was lightly sleeping. His eyes shot open and he jolted upright. He could hear a slight thumping noise in the distance so he grabbed his gun and ran towards the sound. The sight before him brought Dean back to many a times when he's witnessed his little brother having a fit, when he started remembering Hell and after detoxing from the demon blood. He dropped the gun by his side and ran over to Sam, pinning him down so he didn't hurt himself.

"Sammy? Sammy! Hey! It's okay, I'm here, calm down, you're all right!" Dean soothed into Sam's ears, hoping to believe it himself more than his brother.

Sam started to calm under Dean's voice but remained unconscious.

Wanting to get Sam onto a softer surface than the hard tiles, Dean threw Sam's arm over his shoulders and lifted him up. Dean slowly walked into the direction of Sam's room as carrying the weight and height of his brother was tough as he was heavier than he looked.

Dean placed his younger brother carefully on the single bed then tucked him in under the covers after removing his shoes.

He glanced at his brother before leaving, noticing how ill and tired Sam looked, if he didn't know him, he would've assumed he was close to death which is a thought that Dean made sure to push right out of his mind. Sammy couldn't die, not now and not after everything they've been through. Dean wanted to see his brother living a happy, normal life before he was finished with this life.

A few hours passed before Sam was eventually brought back to the land of the living. He could finally stand up without feeling the need to vomit or pass out so he headed to where he assumed Dean was.

There was a large map that covered most of the table with a small whiskey glass placed on the surface with a small amount of amber liquid. His older brother currently had his back to him as he seemed to be circling areas on the map, seemingly unaware of Sam's presence.

"Plotting our journey to Crowley?" Sam spoke softly but by Dean's reaction, it was as if he'd shouted through a megaphone making him jump out of his skin. "Jeez Sammy. How're you feeling?" Dean reached for another tumbler, pouring a second drink for his brother. "I'm fine thanks, much better" Sam could feel the lie burning off his tongue. It was true he felt better but he knew there was something fundamentally wrong. "So, when should we head out?" Sam brushed his hair with his frail fingers. "Maybe I should go myself. You look like hell Sam" Dean handed the fresh glass of alcohol to his little brother. "Yeah Dean, I probably do since I was there for a while" Sam joked sarcastically but the straight face on his sibling told him to stop laughing. "I'm better Dean, plus we need to get Kevin. At the moment, it's priority number one. I'll get changed, while I'm doing that pack up okay? Meet you back here in ten" before Dean could argue Sam had already left the room.

Dean had a nagging feeling at the back of his mind still that Sam was far from alright. Guilt surged through him when he remembered Sam was only like this because he tortured the crap out of him. It was his entire fault he thought to himself, over and over again.

The road to Crowley's lair was a long one. It took around six hours including a couple of stops at gas stations so Dean could pick up his beloved road food and force feed Sam, despite his reluctance.

It was around midnight when the pair were parked a good distance away from the large storage unit that must've been empty for at least two decades. The Impala blended in perfectly with the night sky.

"Do you wanna go over the plan again or-?" Dean checked his gun making sure the salt-rounds were still intact. "Dean, I'm not a friggen' kid, we've already been over this. Go in ninja-style, stab the demons on patrol then snatch Kevin out of there. But the demon-dealer didn't tell us what room he was in so we have to search it out" Sam looked through the binoculars to confirm the demons location. "Yeah but I guarantee the king of Hell is also in there so we need to go in incognito. If you're sure though, let's go" Dean opened the car door and walked towards the trunk to retrieve his duffle.

The last of the demon-guards glowed a bright yellow before collapsing on the floor. Sam dug the knife out of its chest and giving it a wipe on his sleeve. "Psst" Dean whispered as he lightly jogged down the corridor back towards his brother, "there's about four demons guarding this one room to the left down there, it looks promising" Dean cocked his gun and loaded more salt-rounds. "Okay, how do you wanna play it out?" Sam questioned looking down both sides of the halls. "You stay here, make some noise to draw them out then I'll gank them. Hopefully they'll leave in a pair so we'll kill the other door-watchers" Sam nodded as Dean headed towards the shadows.

Sam kicked a stone then ducked behind a wall. He could hear faint voices then footsteps approaching him. After waiting a few more seconds, Sam leapt out, throwing Holy water over demon one and demon two. Dean reacted quickly by stabbing the one nearest to him between the shoulder blades then threw the knife to Sam where he slashed its throat. Thankfully, the demons didn't make too much noise so the brothers stepped quietly towards the door.

Sam still had held of the demon knife so he motioned his older brother to stay behind the wall to cover him. As he emerged, approaching the door he noticed there was nobody on-guard, contradicting what Dean said earlier, meaning either the demons were on a cigarette break or they knew they were here. Sam quickened his pace to check the lock on the door. It was, as expected, locked, good thing Sam was well-experienced with picking tricky doors. He was almost through with cracking it when he heard his brother's yells behind him, calling his name, then he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head when darkness surrounded his vision once again.

_To be continued…_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: again, thank you so much for reading. This is slowly turning into my own version of the final part of season 8 in regards to the trials. The facts will be kept the same but just my interpretation. _

"Sam Winchester. In the flesh" Sam was brought back to consciousness by the sound of an arrogant voice. As he opened his eyes he could sense a tight feeling locked around his hands and that they were tied around his back. The pain struck from earlier swarmed back to his head. "Uh-" Sam's mind felt murky and clouded. His eyesight was blurry at first but things began to come into focus.

He noted a demon standing in front of him wearing complete black. To his left he saw his brother who was beaten bloody which made Sam struggle at his restraints to aid Dean. On his right hand side he saw an ill-looking Kevin sat at a table, surrounded by pieces of paper with enokian wording.

The room had the stench of something that died in it. Walls were once a sharp white but now they were coated with rust and mould.

"Where's your buddy?" Sam spat out some blood, most-likely when he passed out, the demon had a little frustration and took it out on him. "To tell the boss we caught ourselves a couple of Winchesters" it smirked after flashing its eyes a rich black. Sam rolled his eyes at the sarcastic comment. "Evening Sammy, we've had a great couple of days right" Dean's voice was weak and strenuous. "You're telling me" Sam kept the conversation going in hopes of distracting the demon while he figured out how to untie the rope. "Did you figure out we were here or-?" Sam brought his attention to the suited demon. "You guys gave the game away when you kicked a frickin' stone to distract us then we heard the sound of grunts so who else would it be trying to retrieve the kid?" it peered out of the small square window on the door.

The knot was tied pretty well but then again, the demon didn't know Sam's dad was an ex-marine so he knew how to untie even the most tightly yielded-knots. Dean must've picked up on what Sam was doing because he continued talking. "You asshats are getting more intelligent if you can figure out who's coming by a stone-kick" Dean chuckled to himself. "Well gee-thanks Dean. If it's any consolation, you two are getting reckless" the demon brought his attention back to the boys. "Sammy, you look like hell. I mean, even before my artwork there. And I should know what Hell looks like" it winked. Sam was almost done with the tricky task of freeing himself. "Kevin? You okay buddy?" Sam looked over to the teenager who had been through so much this past year. "I've already tried talking to him, the demon or someone has a spell to keep him silent" Dean replied. Even though he couldn't speak, Kevin's eyes spoke a thousand words that he was sorry and just wanted it all to end. "There's no spell, we just told him to keep quiet or else. We just threatened to cut off a part of his body for every word he speaks to you" the demon grinned.

As the demon span around, Sam took the opportunity to jump up and run towards the black-eyed dick. He reached into his inner pocket where the demon-knife was stashed and stabbed the suited Hell-walker in the back. It let out a stifled scream as Sam pressed his hand over its mouth, flashed yellow and was finally dead. "You just gonna stand there or let me out?" Dean struggled against his ropes. The younger brother briskly walked to Dean and cut him free. "Hey Kevin, you okay?" Sam turned his attention to the boy who was in need of a clean. "No but I'm glad to see you guys. I never thought you'd find me" Kevin stood up and collected the pieces of paper in front of him while placing the tablet on top ready to leave. "We had a little help from down under" Dean joked as he unravelled the last pieces of rope tied to his wrists. "We gotta get out of here. Now" Dean retrieved his gun and shells from the corner table that was snatched from him earlier. "Get your crap and let's move" he opened the door, signalling Sam and Kevin to leave.

The trio walked back the way Sam and Dean came in when a deafening siren honked out over the speakers. "Crap. Crap, Crap." Dean muttered as they picked up the pace. Before they reached the exit doors, two demons strolled through. "Going somewhere?" One flashed his eyes black. Dean grabbed his flash and threw Holy water over the two; it burned them enough to allow the three to escape. As Sam was running behind his brother and Kevin in front he felt a hand grab his shoulder, turning him around. He became face-to-face with a severely pissed-off demon and its fist colliding with his jaw causing him to fly and smack into the wall.

Dean became aware of the sound behind him. "Kevin, run to the car, stay there and use Holy water or salt if you need to" he instructed. As Kevin ran out the door, Dean sprayed more of his personal water flask on Sam's attacker. It screamed in agony and steam emitted from its face allowing Dean to grab his distorted brother and get out of the old factory. Sam finally found his feet but started seeing stars.

The cool night air greeted the brothers like a smack in the face but they continued ploughing until they reached the Impala and Kevin. Dean let out a sigh, "that was close. Let's get the hell outta here!" They three young men hopped in the car and put the old factory in their rear view mirror.

"Kev, you alright?" Dean checked on the kid who nodded in response. He then looked to his passenger seat, "how 'bout you Sammy?" Sam circled his neck in attempt to relax his strained muscles. "I'm good" he nodded.

In actual fact, he was the complete opposite of 'good'. The trials, torture and now this. It was taking its toll on the younger brother. He felt weak beyond belief. He muscles were tight. His head was thumping. His jaw was now bruised. The dozens of cuts on his body stung like they were being soaked with alcohol. And his heart was heavy with the guilt and burden that he had done so much wrong in his life.

_To be continued…_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: thank you so much for reading this, it makes my day when I read the reviews left and see how many people have viewed this. _

Kevin was on lockdown, re-cooperating. This involved eating as much crap as he could and fit in enough sleep. Meanwhile the two brothers were tending to their wounds. "You doin' alright?" Dean asked his baby brother who was swigging a bottle of beer. "I'm tired, sure, but I'll live. How's Kevin?" Sam applied an ice-pack to his jaw where the demon hit. Dean frowned at the change of topic, "he's good all things considered. Gettin' some rest at the moment" the elder brother sat opposite Sam at the extended mahogany table.

"Are you sure Sam? I know you, more than you know yourself and I can tell you're more than a little 'tired'. First the two trials then the torture and now you were hit hard twice on the head. Don't tell me you're okay" Dean sighed before continuing, "talk to me, man".

"Honestly, I am fine but I am being affected by these trials, I know I am. Yes, I'm tired and weaker than usual, give me a break though, I spent most of yesterday carved and sliced" Sam spoke softly though the memory made Dean grimace. "I didn't-" "don't worry, carry on" Dean reassured Sam.

Sam exhaled, "I just want to get these trials over and done with so we can slam the gates of hell"

"Sam, I know how tired you are, I can see how much it's physically taking it out on you. What I'm talking about is your emotional state. I'm not a touchy-feely kind of guy but what else is on your mind?" Dean continued to press.

Sam's face was blank as he tried to look anywhere but at his brother.

"Sam-" Dean began, "look I don't wanna talk-" "Sam! What's going on?" Dean's voice sounded agitated.

Sam pressed his temple with his fingers. "When death- when I almost bit it, I was in some sort of memory-lane. All of my past was hidden behind different doors. I opened one door and it was the night I left for Stanford. Another one was our fight about me choosing Ruby." Sam paused, fighting back the tears which were bubbling up, Dean's facial features softened when he saw the amount of guilt his little brother was feeling. "Heh, you get the idea" Sam forced a smile but Dean could see through it.

"Anyway, on that little trip I noticed a current theme throughout all my memories; I disappoint those around me, especially you. I don't want to do that anymore so I need to lock these demons away, the one thing I can do" Sam's once bright eyes were now clouded over with pain.

"Sam, its-" Dean started but was stopped by Kevin's approaching footsteps. "Kevin, why aren't you sleeping?" Sam questioned with authority in his voice. "I had a power nap, I can't sleep anymore. Besides, figured you guys wanted to know the last trial?" Kevin raised an eyebrow. "You figured right" Sam smiled.

Kevin laid out all his notes and the other half of the tablet on the table while the Winchester brothers gathered around. "Crowley had me translating his part of the tablet but I stalled, hoping you two would come get me or I could escape somehow. I never told him the third trial, just some unimportant details" Kevin perched himself at the chair and lifted his legs on the table, swigging on a beer bottle.

Sam and Dean stared at the teenager, waiting for Kevin to reveal all. "You gonna leave us in suspense kid or?" Dean crossed his arms. "Yeah, right, sorry. The third trial is: to cure a demon" Kevin straightened in his seat. The brother's continued to stare ominously at the prophet.

"Cu-cure a demon?" Sam stuttered in confusion. "Cure a demon of what?" Dean added.

"From what I can gather, cure it from being itself" Kevin ruffled through his notes, finding the piece of paper with his translation. He continued, "it doesn't elaborate, to put it simply, cure a demon of being, well-a demon."

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose and Sam furrowed his brows. "How the hell are we gonna do that?" Dean raised his voice.

"I just translate Dean, I didn't write the thing" Kevin sarcastically retorted.

"Hey, lose the tone kid, I'm still older tha-" Dean began.

"Wait- I think I read somewhere how to do just that" Sam walked off to one of the many bookshelves. "When we first got here I spent days in between jobs just reading books, curiosity got the better of me I guess. Anyway, I read something about a priest who attempted to cure a demon. I just have to…" Sam's voice trailed off while he scoured the dozens upon dozens of books.

Dean turned his attention back to Kevin, "how you doin' by the way? You were gone for weeks, what did Crowley do?"

"Honestly, not much. That was the problem. I only saw Crowley personally two or three times, the rest of the time demons were guarding. They rarely fed me, what food they did give wasn't edible so I probably lost a load of weight. They never allowed me to leave that rusty-old room. The worst part though was they kept tormenting me about my mom-Crowley killed her to get to me" Kevin's voice lowered.

Dean shook his head, "I'm sorry, man. When this is all done, I will personally gank that bastard" Kevin smirked to himself.

"Got it!" Sam came jogging back towards the two men.

"It says here about 'Curing a Demon' see: Weird" Sam pinches his eyebrows together.

"Weird? The hell does that mean?" Dean glanced at Kevin who shrugged his shoulders.

"It's a file, somewhere in the bunker, labelled 'weird'" Sam snapped the book shut and placed it on the table.

"How'd you know that?" Dean wondered as he picked up the book and flicked through it, finding the page his brother was on. Sam pointed to a post-it note next to the 'Cure a Demon' section. "It says, see file: weird. Looks like we've got some research to do." Sam's tone lightened at the thought of doing research, which he loved.

A couple of hours later..

"This sucks. I can't find anything to do with 'weird' Sam groaned as he closed another thick book.

His brother and Kevin looked exhausted and appeared as though they've found out as much as he did. "Are there any other rooms with files?" Kevin queried, rubbing his eyes.

"I don't think so" Sam started, "wait, yes I think there's a storage room in one of the corridors" Dean corrected.

Dean flicked on a light in an un-discovered room. There were shelves upon shelves from floor-to-ceiling that were filled with boxes and boxes. "Woah, okay Dean you take that side, I'll do this side" Sam instructed as he headed to his left, working through the last part of the alphabet.

"Think Kevin's doing okay?" Sam asked while skimming. "Yeah, better now that he's gotten somethin' to eat and drink. I think he just misses his mom" Dean replied, checking through a dusty box.

"Found it" Sam exclaimed as he grabbed a file labelled, as expected 'weird'. Inside there was an old film and an accompanying transcript.

"A film? I'll set up a projector…" Dean stopped, noticing grey lines on the floor. "What's that?" He pointed to the floor to which Sam's eyes followed. "Give me a hand" Dean asked as he began pulling a couple of filing cabinets forward. Sam helped and soon the pair were shown an iron engraved devil's trap that took up almost the whole room. "What the-" Sam stared. At the centre was a wooden chair, nailed to the floor with shackles attached and on the walls. "Dude, we have a dungeon" Dean smiled from ear to ear.

Sam, Dean and Kevin finished watching the film which showed a Father Thompson carrying out an unusual exorcism, never before seen by the Winchesters but ultimately the demon was killed by it. The film also featured Abaddon before she was possessed by the Knight of Hell. The film proved to be unhelpful so the trio were back at square one.

Dean switched back on the lights, "well that was...Weird" he smirked at his pun. Sam rolled his eyes and continued flicking through the file.

"How is this meant to be helpful? The priest didn't manage to cure the demon, so what are we going to do now?" Kevin pointed out.

"Apparently, Father Thompson passed away shortly afterwards but…" his eyes travelled down the page, "the younger priest is still alive. What do you say we pay a visit and see if he can tell us anything else about curing a demon?" Sam shut the file and looked between his brother and Kevin with hope fluttering inside. The end was truly near.

_To be continued…_


	7. Chapter 7

After meeting with the priest who was still practicing a day ago, and an awkward moment where Sam began coughing up blood mid-sentence, the brothers managed to collect even more information about curing a demon, even a successful trial.

Sam had a voice recording set up on the bunker's table with another transcript in hand. Dean and Sam listened intently to the sound of Father Thompson once again completing an exorcism. Each hour the Father would inject the chained demon with his own purified blood until hour eight when he cut his hand and fed it to the demon's mouth, finishing the ritual by speaking an altered Latin exorcism, finally curing the demon – who by the end was aware of its wrongdoings and wanted to amend his evil.

"Okay, so in order to complete the trials we have to find a demon-" Sam read aloud, "done, we still have that Knight of Hell bitch locked away" Dean mentally checked.

"Then we need concentrated ground and purified blood" Sam finished.

"What about the exorcism?" Dean rested his chin on his palm.

"Got it right here, every last word. And for the purified blood, I would need to do a confession. Then, it's all finished" Sam stood up, raring to go.

"Woah, what's the rush? It's getting pretty late, maybe you should rest up before doing this trial Sammy, look what the other two did to you" Dean's parental instinct kicked in.

"Dean, we've got to get everything set up. We need to find the concentrated ground and prepare Abaddon. I can rest when it's done" Sam argued, placing the extra pieces of paper back inside the folder.

"Sam, c'mon man. Did you think I didn't see you yesterday when you coughed up blood? Again? Rest, Sammy"

Sam sighed, "De-"

"Don't argue. And another thing, about what you were talking about the other day how you don't wanna disappoint me again? I wanted to talk to you about that" Dean pointed a finger to the seat, motioning Sam to sit back down which he did so reluctantly.

"I get you feel guilty about everything's that happened and I get that you wanna shut the demons away for good, believe me, I do too" Dean exhaled, "but you gotta understand, man, you have done more good than bad. The demon bloody wasn't your fault, Ruby manipulated you. Starting the apocalypse wasn't you're doing, in fact I'm the one who opened the first seal, remember? You never intended to do any of it. Sammy, you have done more good than bad like locking Lucifer away for good – ending Armageddon and now the trials. You willingly started them so we could both survive to, and I quote, 'see the light at the end of the tunnel'. Sam, please don't think you constantly disappoint me because you don't and everything I've said in the past, I take it all back" Sam avoided eye contact with his brother, not believing a single word Dean was saying.

He knew in his heart he's done a lot of bad things, he just wanted to be like his big brother who selflessly puts others before himself.

Despite Sam protesting to getting some rest, he did eventually get four hours so he was raring to go the next day. As he stared into the mirror he saw dark circles had formed under his eyes, there were frown lines scarring his forehead and he was a death pale colour.

"Rise and shine Sammy-" Dean noticed his brother was just glaring intently into the mirror. "Hey buddy, you alright? Time to finally finish these trials" Dean was surprisingly uplifting.

Sam rubbed the corners of his mouth before turning to meet Dean. "Hey, I'm good. Yeah big day" he exhaled. Dean paused for a beat, contemplating asking if he was really okay but left his brother alone. "Big day" Sam repeated quietly.

"Right, Kevin. We're heading out now, just man the fort until we get back. I have pie in the fridge, eat it and you die" Dean lightly joked but the threat was somewhat real. Kevin smiled in response, "got it. Good luck guys" he watched as the elder brother walked up the metal staircase, leaving the bunker, followed by a weakened Sam who could barely climb the stairs.

Sam finally joined his brother in the Impala, heaving his body weight onto the leather seat. "Ready Sammy? Abaddon and her extremely large head are tucked away nicely in the trunk, ready to be re-attached" Dean inserted the car key into the ignition. "Ready as I'll ever be" Sam confirmed as Dean switched on the car radio, blasting an AC/DC classic, driving off.

The Chevrolet pulled up to an old church; miles away from anywhere but situated nicely. The drive had only been a couple of hours, enough time for Sam to plan how the day was going to go. It was pouring with rain when they arrived, approaching midday yet the clouds suggested it was later.

Because Sam's physical state was deteriorating he was sent to draw the devil's trap with the accompanying chair and shackles so the knight of hell would be stuck for good. Meanwhile, Dean carried the decapitated Abaddon over his shoulder with her head in a plastic bag into the church; luckily the bullet Henry Winchester shot into her head would keep her from moving.

"You got everything you need?" Dean asked his brother who was setting up on a table opposite the trap.

"Yeah, got needles, demon knife, exorcism and Holy water, just in case" Sam nodded.

Dean finished placing Abaddon in the wooden chair before stitching her head carefully back onto her neck.

The knight cracked its neck from side to side before opening its eyes, showing the black demon smoke from within. "Howdy boys" it smirked.

"Wow, it actually worked. Who knew thread that cost under a dollar with an accompanying needle would fix humpty dumpty" Dean mentally patted himself on the back.

"Yes and as a thanks, I'll make your death quick. So you want to undo these shackles and let me be on my merry way" Abaddon scowled.

"No can do sorry sweet cheeks. See-by the end of the day, you'll be as human as the day you were turned into a demon" Dean stood up, folding his arms.

"Oh please, good luck with that. Last time Father Thomas did that, the demon died" the knight grinned.

"Guessing you didn't hear about his successful trial. Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough, bitch" Dean snapped.

The arrogant smirk from Abaddon's face fell which made Dean's grow. The elder brother turned his back to the demon, facing his brother. "So you ready to make a start?" Dean stepped out of the trap.

"Not yet, I've got to do the confessional first" Sam motioned with his head towards the small woodened booth.

"Oh yeah, ever done it before? Know where to start?" Dean questioned.

"When I was younger. I know what to say just not sure where I should begin" Sam sighed.

"You could start with taking demon blood. Running off with Ruby. Killing Lilith; setting Lucifer free. Hiding that you didn't have a soul. Not looking for me while I was in purgatory. In chronological order I guess" Dean saw the ache of memories etching across Sam's face as he listed every one of his brother's wrongdoings.

"Yeah, thanks Dean" Sam lowered his head in shame as he walked towards the booth.

He didn't mean for it to sound as bad as it did because Dean knew that everything Sam has ever done was for the greater good. The guilt was weighing heavily on Sammy's shoulders and there was nothing Dean could do but reassure him that nothing's his fault. A sinking feeling began within Dean as he heard his baby brother whispering in the confessional so he sat on a step leading to the alter.

After about twenty minutes or so, Sam finally emerged from the confessional booth looking even more destroyed than normal. His tired eyes were bright red, probably from crying. Dean stood up wanting to pull his brother into a hug but felt it was neither the place or time.

"Everything go okay?" Dean approached Sam who nodded in response as he walked towards the series of syringes, picking up the first one.

He slowly injected it into a vein on his left elbow, the empty glass soon filled with a rich red colour, signifying the blood was ready to be used.

Sam slumped over to Abaddon, grabbed her head and tiled it to the side so he could inject the syringe into her neck. She let out a slight grunt and flashed her eyes black.

"That's the first one done, can you set a timer for one hour?" Sam instructed, throwing the discarded needle into a black bin bag after replacing the cap. Dean pressed a button on the cooker timer to beep in 60 minutes time.

Seven more to go.

_To be continued…_


	8. Chapter 8

The first two hours passed painfully slow. Sam could feel each tick of his wristwatch vibrate against his skin. Abaddon would occasionally spit vulgar things at Sam when he began injecting her but the younger brother was too focused on reaching the finish line to let a few slurs get to him.

Sam reached for the third syringe as Dean watched him carefully. "You doin' okay Sam?" he rubbed his face, impatiently waiting for the day to be over already. Instead of answering, Sam just grunted while retracting rich red blood from his sore arm. Dean wanted to press further but prevented himself so not to piss Sam off.

Sam heaved his heavy bones towards the demon, grabbed Abaddon's bright red hair and pulled it to one side while he jabbed the needle into her neck. She hissed and flashed her eyes black before the younger brother retreated, "at least buy me dinner first honey". Sam discarded the old syringe into his duffle and slumped back on the stair in front of the alter, motioning for Dean to start the third hour.

As Sam's eyelids began slowly closing, he felt the ground beneath him start to shake. Wind started howling against the old windows with the rustling of trees from outside accompanying the discomforting sound. The Winchester brothers jumped to her feet, reaching for their weapons, anticipating for whatever it was to make an entrance shortly.

The large wooden doors began to sway before being swung open fully. A dark figure stepped in from outside and stood in the doorway, letting cool air flow through. Abaddon attempted to twist her neck around to see what was happening but was stopped by the devil's trap bullet. The light finally adjusted allowing the boys to see who it was. "Hello, boys" the sound of an English accent echoed through the old church bringing a sinking feeling to the brothers' chest.

"Dammit Crowley, how the hell did you find us?" Dean yelled across the room. A smirk painted itself across the King of Hell's lips. "Had my demons notify me of any unusual Winchester activity, low and behold, kidnapping a knight of hell to an abandoned church is pretty unusual" he replied.

"Crowley?!" Abaddon spat in disgust, "the cross-roads demon?" she snorted.

"Try king of hell" Dean muttered.

"You've _got_ to be joking" the knight darted her eyes between the brothers thinking they were kidding.

"'fraid not sweetie" Crowley interrupted.

Sam gripped the end of the table which held all the boys' equipment to steady him as he began feeling shaky. "Not doing so good are we moose? That's what you get for trying to shut hell up" Crowley pointed out which made Dean spin around to check on his baby brother. "I'm fine" Sam said through gritted teeth.

"Speaking of, that's why I'm here. Figured since killing a hellhound and rescuing a hell bound soul to heaven were the first two trials, anything associated with hell would be the third and final one which is why I kept my demons at a safe distance. But it seems you've found one anyway, thus my cue to put an end to your shenanigans" Crowley shoved his hands in his pockets.

"So, what? You're my knight in shining armour?" Abaddon mocked, hating how hell is being run by a cross-roads demon.

"I'm merely here to stop them and if that means collecting you then so be it" Crowley cleared his throat, "nice seeing you boys but that will be enough conversation for today" he lifted two fingers and motioned to flick the Winchester's against the wall.

When nothing happened a grin spread across Dean's smug face. "Sorry douchebag, no demon power while you're trapped" he pointed to the red painted devil's trap above Crowley's head. The arrogant smirk on Crowley's face had been wiped as he noticed the red circle on the concrete doorway above him.

"Yeah you see, we knew succeeding with this would be too good to be true so while I was dealing with Abaddon's heavy ass, I had Sam here paint a devil's trap and set aside some shackles just for the demon who would be fetching her" Dean reached into his duffle bringing out some handcuffs before walking to an irritated Crowley.

The elder brother fastened the silver handcuffs to both of Crowley's wrists. "Don't think you can just snap your fingers to get out of them then crack your trap to free yourself because these are specially carved with demon traps" Dean informed while smiling ten-miles wide, "you can get a front-row seat to watching your hell gates get locked for good".

The final injection was just half an hour away, officially ending the third trial. As the hours passed by slowly, Sam could feel himself get weaker and weaker. It felt like he had a bad case of the flu with his heart slamming against his chest, eyelids getting heavier, shoulders slumping and his vision getting worse. These trials were supposed to cure him, he kept thinking to himself, once they're over, he can maybe be done with hunting.

Dean had been talking to him but the words weren't getting absorbed so his replies would be one-worded or just noises.

The older brother felt increasingly worried for Sam as the day went on. He continuously asked him how he was doing but he wouldn't really answer.

"You think Cas is okay?" Sam shifted the topic away from him, he also wanted to reassure his brother he was fine without fully telling him.

"I don't know, man. Last time I even saw him he just vanished into air. Ever since he got back from purgatory, he's been different and now it turns out some Naomi has been controlling him. He almost killed me, he's far off the reservation. Who knows where he's gone with the angel tablet, just hope he's not in danger" Dean looked up at his brother who was leaning against the table while the elder sat on the step. Sam looked awful from Dean's perspective, he had dark circles around his eyes, and sweat was covered all over his forehead. If he didn't know Sam, he would've said he was dying.

"Yeah, me too" Sam whispered.

Crowley sighed almost too loudly, "you two are boring me, God only knows how you've managed to survive with each other for so long without killing one another. Though, from what I've heard, you've at least tried to once" he moaned, still standing in the same position from earlier.

Crowley was right, Sam and Dean had been through hell and back. Almost nine years of saving people, hunting things, the family business yet they still stick by each other, despite everything they've been through. Their mother dying, Jessica dying the same way, Sam's psychic connections, looking for their dad, finding the yellow-eyed demon, Sam dying and Dean selling his soul, opening the hell gates, Dean going to hell, Sam drinking demon blood, killing Lilith, freeing Lucifer, dealing with the four horsemen, the apocalypse, Sam jumping in the pit to lock the devil away, Sam having no soul, Dean living with Lisa and Ben, dealing with purgatory, Castiel taking all those souls, the leviathans, Dick Roman, Dean going to purgatory, finding the word of God and now this; shutting the demon's away. The journey has been long and painful. The brother's each have scars embedded, nobody can see them, they are internal, they both care so little about themselves yet way too much about the other. But despite this, if another life was offered to the Winchester brothers, they wouldn't take it.

Sam and Dean glanced at each other, both seeing how the years have taken their toll. And it was all finally coming to an end.

The sound of an alarm beeping echoed the church; it was finally time to end the trials once and for all. "Time's up" Dean confirmed as he stood to watch the final moments of Abaddon's demonic state.

Sam reached for the last syringe and dug it into his arm watching carefully how the bright red blood filled the glass container. His elbow was sore where the bulging vein had been a source for purified liquid.

He walked over to a quiet Abaddon who appeared to have tears in her eyes. "What's wrong with you?" Dean asked, following his brother closely.

"Everything I-" she started, her voice catching slightly. "Everything I've done, how can I – how will I ever be able to get forgiveness for what I've-" a single tear rolled down her rosy-red cheek.

"We start with this" Sam nodded his head towards the needle in his hand. Abaddon willingly tiled her head to the side so Sam could inject her with the last dose.

Her skin pinched slightly as Sam pushed the syringe in deeper then watched as the blood disappeared. He retracted the needle and handed it to Dean who in return gave him the exorcism.

"_Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus. Hanc animam redintegra, lustra! Lustra!" _only the sound of Sam's whimpering voice could be heard in the church while everyone watched intently, even Crowley who was fearing for his life.

Sam used the demon knife to cut a slit on his palm, watching scarlet liquid drops fall to the wooden floor. He placed his hand over Abaddon's trembling mouth. A bright light engulfed the knight, her eyes and mouth streamed out the blinding light, forcing Sam, Dean and Crowley to look away as a result.

Once the light had vanished, the three glanced at Abaddon who was panting slightly. "How-how are you feeling?" Dean questioned, worried that it didn't work. Abaddon's eyes, previously a sharp black, had turned to a light green. "What have I done?" her voice, barely a whisper, "why did I act that way?" she tucked her head low, memories of her sinful past flashing behind her eyes which were brimming with tears.

Sam reached for the piece of paper in his jean pocket which is to be announced at the end of every trial. He said it out loud breathlessly and slowly.

The younger brother paused slightly before his arms glowed a bright light that streamed up and down his forearms like a torch was lighting up his veins. He screamed in agony as he fell to the floor, gripping the piece of paper with the spell.

"Sam? Sammy?!" Dean crouched beside his brother, holding his shoulders. "Talk to me!" He shouted but Sam continued to yell in pain until finally it was too much to bear and he passed out, falling limp onto the cold hard wood.

"NO!" Dean exclaimed as he grabbed Sam's shirt to wake him up. The elder brother frantically searched for a pulse. "God, no please no Sammy, not now!" Tears began spilling out of Dean's eyes.

A moment passed before the ground started to shake violently. The church doors swung open and close as if a hurricane was passing through. The windows to the church began cracking and eventually smashing, letting in the ice cold night air. The wind was howling like a wolf was on the prowl. The leaves on trees were rustling as if they were coming alive.

Crowley started to moan in pain as the twilight sky shot a bright white light. It streamed through the open windows and doors. Dean had to shelter his eyes because it was too sharp to look at but he could still hear the king of hell who was full-on shouting for an invisible pain to stop.

Replacing the sound wind gusts, rain and Crowley's screams, a high pitched pinging became louder and louder. It was the same deafening sound as when the angels are trying to communicate, a sure sign something was happening.

The ringing started to climax and come to a head but a second later it was all over. The dusk-filled sky had returned to the dark state it was previously. The noise had disappeared leaving soft sound of rain hitting the ground.

Dean lifted his head and removed his hands from his ears. He stood up straight and looked around the church. There were pieces of glass covering the floor, Abaddon was still seated but must've passed out from the combined noise and light. The church doors were open wide. Crowley was gone yet the devil's trap was still intact and the demon handcuffs were lying on the floor, unbroken.

The elder brother was brought back to reality when he noticed Sam wasn't responding. "Sam! Wake up dammit!" Dean crouched back down and slapped his brother lightly across the face, hoping, wanting for him to wake up.

"SAMMY!"

_To be continued…_


End file.
